Digital Graphics Theory (Raster vs Vector)

Digital Graphics can be of these styles:

-Photo-Realistic
Attempts to imitate real-life follows realistic proportions, lighting and physics rules. (E.G: Call of Duty, Mass Effect, Assassins Creed)

-Cell-Shaded
Imitates old-school animation shading and style. Shadows are not graduated, but rather blocky. (E.G. Zelda Wind Waker, Borderlands, Pokémon Sun/Moon)

-Exaggerated
Cartoon in appearance, unrealistic proportions with exaggerated features. This style is best suited for younger audiences. (E.G. Crash Bandicoot, Lego Dimensions, Mario)

 

There are two types of graphics:

Raster

Raster graphics are best used for non-line art images; specifically photographs, scanned artwork or detailed graphics. However, because raster images are pixel-based, they suffer image degradation. Just like photographic images that get blurry and imprecise when scaled up, a raster image gets jagged and rough (when you look close enough, you can begin to see the individual pixels that comprise the image).
The raster format is resolution-specific — meaning that raster images are defined and displayed at one specific resolution. Resolution in raster graphics is measured in dpi, or dots per inch. The higher the dpi, the better the resolution. Better resolution, however, comes at a price. Just as raster files are significantly larger than comparable vector files, high resolution raster files are significantly larger than low resolution raster files. Overall, as compared to vector graphics, raster graphics are less economical, slower to display and print, less versatile and more unwieldy to work with.
Common raster formats include TIFF, JPEG, GIF, PCX and BMP files.

Vector

 

Unlike pixel-based raster images, vector graphics are based on mathematical formulas that define geometric primitives such as polygons, lines, curves, circles and rectangles. Because vector graphics are composed of true geometric primitives, they are best used to represent more structured images, like line art graphics with flat, uniform colors, for example logos, letterhead, UI elements, sprites and fonts.
Vector-based graphics are more versatile and easy to use than raster images. The most obvious advantage of vector images over raster graphics is that vector images are quickly and perfectly scalable. There is no upper or lower limit for sizing vector images. Furthermore, unlike raster graphics, vector images are not resolution-dependent. Common vector formats include AI, EPS, CGM, WMF and PICT (Mac).

As you can clearly see, raster graphics are made from pixels; a single point in a graphic image. A pixel is a minute area of illumination on a display screen, one of many from which an image is composed.

 

Saving Digital Graphics

Images can be of different File Types:
PNG
PNG is a lossless compression type. It is often used where the graphic might be changed by another person or where the image contains layers of graphics that need to be kept separate from each other. It is high quality.

JPEG
JPEG is often used for digital camera images because it has a fairly small file size for the quality that it displays. JPEG is a lossy format that offers a higher compression rate than PNG in the trade-off for quality.

GIF
GIF compresses images to a maximum 8-bit colour depth, making it unsuitable for high-quality photographs. GIF is often used where transparency is needed on the graphic. GIF can also be used to store simple animated images.

In a professional environment, when saving images for games development we would save them in two formats: a source image, and an output image.
The source image would be stored as a very large lossless image (e.g. PNG or TIFF), and a much smaller lossy compressed output image is saved for the final game. If we need to increase the resolution of textures (for example doing a HD remastered game) we simply load up the source image again and re-save a different output image.

When saving an image, we use compression to reduce its overall file size.
Compression can be Lossy or Lossless.
Lossy compression removes data that it deems unnecessary.
Lossless compression means that as the file size is compressed, the picture quality remains the same.

Digital image capturing is the process of creating a digital image file directly using a camera, scanner or by using a drawing tablet in a media creation software.

Optimisation

As game developers we have to optimise as much as possible to get file sizes down to be as small as possible whilst keeping quality. We therefore can use various things to help us optimise, including compression.

Bit Depth

Bit depth refers to the amount of bits (or data) is used in an image. A single bit is either 0 (off) or 1 (on). A 1 bit/channel means that there is 1 bit each for Red, Green, and Blue. And through various combinations can create 8 different colours.

Storage of image assets

Storage of image assets is a very useful way to store things like textures, graphics and text styles so that others can easily access them. This is very useful within the games industry as most companies have numerous teams who all need to access the same assets. Being able to transfer files between colleagues really speeds up production as you don’t need to wait around for the files to transfer.

File sizes are often an issue when storing images. The size of a file can be an issue if it is too big.

Image file formats are the normal way to store digital graphics and images. They are made of either pixels or vector data, and even the mixture of both. The image file size is shown by the number of bytes. The greater number of bytes, the bigger the file is. Having a smaller file size means it’s easier and quicker to store or transfer data, images and graphics between computers, programs and hard drives.

One of the main reason why Storage of image assets is important is to produce quick transfers between files.

One of the main rules you follow for good storage of assets is to the “Power of Two”. The “Power of Two” rule is a fundamental necessity due to the way game engines work.
In essence, “Power of Two” is a form of data ‘optimisation’, a necessity so images are as efficient and ‘light’ as possible, whilst simultaneously providing an appropriate visual experience.
For instance having a texture that is 128×128 pixels large will mean that the file is small, which allows it to be transferred quicker and stored easier. This allows textures like this to be used on online games so they can run smooth and fast without any problems.
Having a bigger Image for example, 1024 x 1024 will allow the quality to increase, giving a cleaner and sharper image, but by doing this, the amount of storage this file will need will increase, thus prolonging loading times.

Adobe Illustrator: Vector Graphics

Adobe Illustrator is used to create vector graphics, as opposed to raster graphics (created in Adobe Photoshop).

The main tool used to create a graphic is the “pen tool”.
The Pen tool is the most powerful tool in Illustrator. It allows you to define your own anchor points, as well as adjust the curve associated with those anchors, simply by manipulating two control points associated with each anchor (called handles).

By default, the Pen tool generates sharp-angled anchors, not smooth anchors. You can create smooth lines by clicking and dragging an anchor and moving the anchors to match your desired shape.

I used Adobe Illustrator to create a Player icon and a Mini-map frame.

To create the player icon I started off by creating a new 64×64 pixel canvas. then I dragged out a symmetrical circle (pressing shift whilst dragging to lock the proportions). To add the pointed side, I selected the side anchor with the “direct selection tool”, dragged it outwards and converted that same anchor to curve-less point. I then changed the fill and stroke of the icon to gradients, adding finishing touches to the graphic.

To create the frame I used the same tools but on a 512×512 canvas, and dragged out a 256×256 pixel guide square to aid the design of the frame.

Unreal Engine 4: Decals

Decals are Materials that are projected onto meshes in your level, including Static Meshes and Skeletal Meshes. These meshes can have a Mobility setting of Static or Movable and the Decal will still project on them. Many Decals can be rendered at once without a large performance decrease.

To create a Decal Actor, drag and drop the Deferred Decal Actor directly from the All Classes tab of the Modes panel.
You then only need to apply a Decal Material, which is really just a regular Material that has had its Material Domain property set to Deferred Decal in the Material’s Details panel. You can then apply the Material to the Decal Actor.

Trends in the videogame industry

A trend is a general direction in which something is developing or changing (a “fashion”).

Trends of today include:
–Battle Royale Games
Battle royale is a video game genre that blends the survival, exploration and scavenging elements of a survival game with last man standing gameplay. Battle royale games challenge a large number of players, starting with minimal equipment, to search for weapons and armour and eliminate other opponents all while avoiding being trapped outside of a shrinking “safe area”, with the winner being the last competitor in the game. The name for the genre is taken from the 2000 Japanese film Battle Royale. The genre’s origins arose from mods for large-scale, online, survival games like Minecraft and ARMA 2, before becoming their own standalone games. While PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, released in early 2017, was not the first case of a battle royale game, the title’s rapid popularity, with over ten million units sold within six months of its initial release, popularised the battle royale format.
Like any videogame trend, battle royale is cyclic. This means that it will be popular, but after a certain amount of time its popularity will decline for a bit, but then rise again. An example of a cyclic trend is first person shooters, where the trend now is war related gameplay, that became popular again after the sci-fi trend of FPS games.

–Virtual Reality
VR has been in the market for at last 4 years now but only recently has been improving dramatically, so much so that nearly everyone now knows of it, more and more people are beginning to own one (Oculus Rift, HTC Vive etc), and more and more developers are making games for these systems. Its popularity rose because there was nothing else that allowed you to play videogames in an immersive 360 degree experience.
In the future, I see VR being implemented well with smartphones and different types of controllers so you would be able to play, for example, FPS games as if you were the actual soldier, being able to look around in 360 degrees.

–Micro-transactions
Micro-transaction is a business model where users can purchase virtual goods via micro-payments. Micro-transactions are often used in free-to-play games to provide a revenue source for the developers. Whilst these are a staple of the mobile app market, they are also available on traditional computer platforms such as Valve’s Steam platform as well as console gaming. Micro-transactions were first introduced by EA with Fifa, where people could buy packs of players from different teams and create their own ultimate team with these. The success of this was big enough that all developers started adding micro-transaction into their games.
The data from a variety of sources, including SuperData, show that micro-transaction can vastly increase a companies’ profits. Grand Theft Auto, as an example, was a game that held the price of 50 Great British Pounds on release, yet through GTA Online Sharkcard micro-transactions, they have made more money than they have on game sales.
Many sources state that all games will eventually be free-to-play and include micro-transaction. Free-to-play/micro-transaction may be used as a response to piracy. Many consumers have referred to video game micro-transactions as a means of milking their product for more profit (Companies take content they’ve already developed for their games and put it behind a paywall, asking for $20-$30 to access the “season pass). Also, some platforms do not require passwords to use a credit card to complete micro-transactions. This has resulted in customers getting unexpectedly high bills (known as bill shocks). Some organisations, such as Belgium’s Gaming Commission, have even called for the banning of micro-transactions claiming they are a form of gambling.

Trends can be divided into:
–Market Trends: these are an analysis of the user demographics, buying habits, and playing habits (it’s a Player-led change).
An example of a Market trend that died involves the fall of THQ-
By the end of 2006, THQ faced a problem it hadn’t successfully planned for. When THQ was making games for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, lots of people owned those consoles. When the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 launched, not every PS2 and Xbox owner made the upgrade. THQ had planned for its audience to move with it to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. It had dozens of licensed games in development for the new consoles. The company was banking on this strategy. Then its audience went somewhere THQ hadn’t planned: mobile. 2007 marked the launch of the iPhone, which in no time became the home for licensed kids games. Developing for smartphones was cheap, distribution was even cheaper and parents liked the idea of spending 99 cents on a game instead of $40 to $60 on a full-priced console title.While the market was moving to mobile, THQ was stuck in multi-year deals that meant it had to continue making licensed games for a shrinking console audience. After years of financial struggles, stock value drop, and debt, THQ declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2012 and began liquidation of its assets the following month, with several properties either being acquired or auctioned to other developers.

–Industry Trends: are technology advancements, business practices, design methodologies. Industry-led change. An example of an Industry trend that died is the failure of the Wii-U after the Wii.
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo in 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii competed with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3. As of the first quarter of 2012, the Wii leads its generation over PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in worldwide sales, with more than 101 million units sold; but what Nintendo did not realise was that this happened because of Wii-Sports, not because the Wii was a groundbreaking console itself. The Wii introduced the Wii Remote controller, which can be used as a handheld pointing device and which detects movement in three dimensions. It did not include big releases such as Battlefield or Grand Theft Auto, mainly Nintendo releases, which weren’t all great.
In the end, the Wii’s useful life was about three years. By 2009, widespread adoption of high-definition televisions had left the Wii looking painfully dated. But instead of moving on quickly, Nintendo let it linger for another three years and then released the failure that was the Wii-U.

Adobe Photoshop: Pixel Art

Pixel art is a form of digital art, created through the use of software, where images are edited on the pixel level. The majority of graphics for 8-bit and 16-bit computers and video game consoles, as well as other limited systems like graphing calculators, is pixel art.

Developers choose pixel art over any other artwork style because it’s easier to learn and do. You can draw pixel-art in a short time-frame, it’s also easy to re-do if you change elements in your game, you don’t have to hand-draw all your sprites over again and can often make fairly simple modifications; as opposed to those beautiful artistic games like Limbo. Another reason is to appeal to the older generation (nostalgia).

Recently we’ve seen a resurgence in pixel games. Some examples of Pixel Art games include:

ROGUE LEGACY (2013) – is frustrating as all hell when you first boot it up, but as you learn the intricacies and the pixel-perfect commands, it opens up.

 

SHOVEL KNIGHT (2014) –  is a  nostalgia inducing side-scrolling adventure platformer, supported with a chip-tune soundtrack, intentionally designed like old 8-bit games.

 

MERCENARY KINGS (2014) – is a Shoot-‘em-up game inspired by Metal Slug, but with a much more fluid experience, and with gorgeous animations.

 

FEZ (2012) – is a Trans-Dimensional Puzzle Platformer. Fez is unusual as a pixel game, because the voxels that make up everything in the game world are actually rendered in 3D – game designer Phil Fish crafted custom 2D pixel art and his programmer, Renaud Bédard, designed software that wrapped each custom tile-face to the side of each voxel, making the game look 2D whilst operating in 3D.

 

SUPERBROTHERS: SWORD & SWORCERY EP (2011) – Non-Vocal Adventure

A game that managed to break through in both the East and the West, Sword & Sworcery EP was one of the first hugely successful art games released on iOS.

Optical Maser – Production Log

Concept

Modelling the gun
DAY 1 –
Today I started to model the basic shape of my gun using cubes and basic primitives, working on from them, adding detail as i went. Before modelling though, I imported my concept art as image planes to aid scale and have an easier reference to model from. I started off by making the main body of the gun using a basic cube ( roughly shaped like the gun), adding cuts and extruding out the grip and adding detail bit by bit. I used the same principles to model the scope (using a cylinder instead of a cube as a base object), the stock and the blade. To create the trigger guard I made a line straight through the model by selecting all the middle faces and “Edit Mesh > Connect” and clicked enter. Then I selected two vertices where the trigger was going to be, bevelled them, and extruded one of them towards the other, connecting the two with the bridge tool.

DAY 2 –
On day 2 I divided my model into shells and unwrapped the UVs. First of all, In Photoshop, I planned out how my gun would be broken down. I came to the conclusion that my model would be made out of 4 main UV shells: the main body (including the grip and trigger), the scope, the blade and the stock. One by one I unwrapped these shells into flat UVs, using cylindrical projection for the scope and planar projection for the rest of the gun. Finally I moved all the shells around to fit the canvas, which I then exported as a 2048×2048 UV snapshot.

DAY 3 –
On day 3, I painted the gun texture using Adobe Photoshop and applied it to the gun using Maya’s Hypershade.
I wanted my gun to look like something out of Overwatch, so I stuck to bright saturated colours. After I had my idea all drawn out in Photoshop, to add that extra depth and sense of realism, (on a new layer) I went over the gun with a big soft black brush covering all the lower areas of the gun. This gave my gun the illusion of global illumination.

To make the energy channels on the gun seem like they were bevelled into the actual weapon, I created a normal map and connected it to the normal texture node in the hypershade editor, giving it three dimensional detail.

 

Animating the gun
DAY 4 –
Today I animated my gun’s reload, primary firing and secondary firing animations in Maya. The first step was to draw out the skeleton / bone structure that my gun would have to make it easier to animate. I chose the grip as the parent and the trigger and stock as children splitting half way.
I chose this specific structure because for my animations it would be easier to rotate the whole gun (simulating recoil) since the grip is the parent, and to move the trigger and stock as children of the grip so that they would move accordingly with the gun, and not stay in place.

When animating I looked at a couple of guns from the game Overwatch for reference to the firing speed and recoil speed / amount. This made it easier to keyframe. The rest of the process was adding keyframes to the timeline (by pressing “s”) and moving them along by trial and error, getting the whole animation to play out smoothly.

When I was happy with the final result, I exported them as a .fbx animation

Implementing the gun in game
DAY 5 –
On Day 5 I implemented the gun into my game so it would replace the stock weapon in an Unreal Engine 4 BP.
I did this by importing the three animations and the main gun mesh into Unreal Engine (selecting the main mesh skeleton as reference when importing the animations), then, to replace the stock weapon with mine, I opened the FirstPersonCharacter BP and replaced the stock weapon mesh to my gun mesh and replacing this code in the event graph.
After re-positioning the gun in the viewport to a desired look, this was the final result.

Adobe Photoshop: Lazy Texturing

Lazy texturing is a quick way of shading a model using only gradients in Photoshop. Here are some examples taken from pinterest:

In this example I am going to “lazy texture” a rock and a tree using the same technique.
Having made the texture with the gradient tool, in Autodesk Maya I start off by adding a new material to the model, then in the Hypershade window, I open the Graph network, select the material and connect a “file” node to the colour section (importing the gradient texture made in Photoshop in the file attributes).
         
Next, I open the UV editor and move, scale and rotate the shell of the model to achieve the desired effect/colour gradient. To add extra details like small darker shadows or cracks to the model, I select the individual faces that I want and apply a planar UV to this selection. back in the UV editor I move this selection, that is split/disconnected from the rest of the model, across the texture to achieve the desired style.
         

VideoGame Level Design

A videogame map, to be considered a well made one, it has to have some key features. Maps like Nuketown (CallOfDuty) or Caspian Border (BF3) have these features in common, making them great well balanced maps.
           

This multiplayer map (Forest) taken from Warface includes numerous features / aspects that make it a good map. These include:

–The Rule of 3: where the map always has 3 paths to choose from, to avoid getting stuck in combat and have a possibility to flank or flee, and to give the player multiple choices instead of following one path.

–Line of Sight: incredibly long viewing distances make a bad multiplayer map, we fix this by adding cover. It is important to break up long views with cover. Failing to do so reduces the importance of skillful close combat and increases the importance of splash weapons and long distance sniper weapons. It also makes large open areas less useful as good “risk/reward” areas.
(In this example, there is debris and vehicles that create cover on the bridge and sides, eliminating long viewing distances).

–Terrain Options: (Elements like walls, cover, high ground, and low ground are all examples of these terrain options.) Good players learn what terrain to use depending on the situation – for example, it’s usually just a better idea for a player to have higher ground than his opponent. Not only does it provide him with an excellent angle to fire at them with, it also usually provides partial cover. Also, there might be a really powerful weapon pickup in one area of the map where you will be exposed for a bit to your enemies, in the attempt to pickup this weapon. This Risk vs Reward mechanic always makes a great multiplayer map

–Focal Points: are a particularly important feature of multiplayer maps. Not only do they divide up the players’ interest to many different points on the map, they also provide areas of visual interest. Every well designed map will contain a focal point at the most important point on the map (usually the center) as well as minor focus points in every major area.
In this example, the focal point is the bridge in the middle of the map

–Bottlenecks / Conflict Points: what multiplayer map is a good one without conflict points. These add action to the game, so you aren’t wondering around the map for 5 minutes trying to find an enemy. A multiplayer map must be structured to create “natural” bottlenecks to also balance the importance of all weapons, from close range to long range.

PRACTICE
Creating a Multiplayer map based on the Seevic Campus.

Unreal Engine 4: Lighting

Unreal Engine 4 has four light types: Directional, Point, Spot, and Sky.

-Directional lights are primarily used as outdoor light or any light that needs to appear as if it is casting light from extreme or near infinite distances.
-Point lights are classic “light bulb” like light, emitting light in all directions from a single point.
-Spot lights emit light from a single point, but have their light limited by a set of cones.
-Sky lights capture the background of your scene and apply it as lighting to your level’s meshes.

Making a flickering light from a point light:
In this example we take a simple point light and we manipulate it such that when a player touches a trigger: the color of the light changes, the light begins to flicker, and after 5 seconds, the light returns to normal.

Babel – Developing a First Person Shooter Game

Concept Generation
I want my game to look and feel like an Overwatch style game.
I came up with 3 different ideas:
–A western-style game wth a futuristic spin on it
Moodboard showing the general look and feel of this idea
   
–A pirate-style game
Moodboard showing the general look and feel of this idea
 
   

–A standard futuristic FPS

---

In the western-style game, I love the character idea and the concept of a gun shooting piercing energy beams, but it overall resembles Bioshock Infinite a lot so this will not be my final game Idea. In the pirate-style game I really like the idea of a blade on a gun for easier close quarter encounters, but it is pretty niche; I don’t think many people would play my game if this was my final idea. Lastly, the futuristic FPS based in Babel; I love this idea overall. I think I will add the elements I liked from the past ideas to this one, and make it my final game.

My final game will be based in Babel, a super-city of the year 2065. Babel is the only habitable place on planet Earth after the rest of the world was wiped by famine and depleted resources, caused by extreme pollution. Since it’s the only “active” place on Earth, it gets its energy from the PowerGem – a small stone found in the middle of the map. This stone was stolen by the government, that is using it mostly to their advantage for nuclear weapons, and not providing electricity to the rest of the inhabitants of the city. Because of this, people are furious, fighting over a stone just for a pinch of energy. It is your job as a military soldier to take this stone and put it in the the right hands, providing energy for everyone.

(If close enough to the gem, you can absorb some of its energy to have the ability to shoot piercing energy beams from the Optical Maser (gun)).

Audience and Market Research

All the information I have for my game was gathered with primary / desk research, through a questionnaire. From my questionnaire, I now know that my target audience is aged between 16 and 18 years of age, so blood, gore and violence won’t be a major problem. Also, most people said that they play videogames for 10+ hours a week, so my map will have to have to have an engaging flow to maximise its possible playing hours before getting bored. Additionally, the target audience’s favourite game genres are Adventure and Multiplayer First Person Shooter games, so my game will be perfectly suited for my target audience.

From the research I made I can see that PC, Smartphones and PS4 are the main platforms used to develop games for in 2017. Although VR and Xbox are really close, I would plan on releasing my game for PC or Mobile.

This chart shows the percentage of video games sold by genre. As we can see, shooter games are the best selling
This list shows the top grossing games for PC in 2017 (three of which are FPS)

Shooter games, specifically Arena based first person shooters (like Overwatch and Paladins) sell so well because these games are played in short burst round games that add elements of fun and tactics as well as a challenge. This accompanied by their quick and easy progression systems make these games so popular

According to a news article, first-person shooters specifically are highly addictive and sell well because they create an absorbing experience. Video games are essentially about decision-making, what might be a very simple decision if you have all the time in the world becomes much more attractive and complex when you have to do it split second. The more realistic the game becomes the easier it is to lose your own identity in it. It isn’t just the first-person experience that helps to create flow; it’s also the shooting. This deviation from our regular life, the visceral situations we don’t normally have make first-person shooters particularly compelling. It’s not that we necessarily want to be violent in real life; rather, it’s that we have pent-up emotions and impulses that need to be vented. If we look at it in terms of our evolution, most of us have office jobs. We’re in front of the computer all day. We don’t have to go out and fight a tiger or a bear to find our dinner. But it’s still hardwired in humans. We miss this adrenaline-generating decision-making.

Regarding Level design, to make a good multiplayer FPS level you have to consider:

-Terrain Options
One good way to provide players with interesting choices in a multiplayer FPS map is to give them a variety of terrain options to choose from. (Elements like walls, cover, high ground, and low ground are all examples of these terrain options.) A good multiplayer designer is always thinking of terrain options and trying to engineer them to provide as many good choices for the player as possible.

-Multiple Paths
In single player games, it is often beneficial to lead the player towards the best gameplay experience your game has to offer. Often, this leads to a linear level design (which is, in most cases, best suited to the experience you want to provide). In multiplayer a linear path is rarely beneficial. A good player is constantly varying his route through a level, sometimes to shake off pursuers or sometimes in order to go after desirable weapons or pickups. Either way, it is always advantageous for the player to have a number of paths to get to and from every major area in a multiplayer map. As a general rule, a good multiplayer design should strive to make sure all major areas have at least three ways in and/or out of them.

-Flow
A good multiplayer level designer is constantly thinking of how he wants the players to move globally through a multiplayer map. This level of understanding, called flow, affects everything from pickup placement in a deathmatch map to node placement in a node-capture map.

-Focal Points
Particularly important features of multiplayer maps. Not only do they divide up the players’ interest to many different points on the map, they also provide areas of visual interest. Every well designed map will contain a focal point at the most important point on the map (usually the center) as well as minor focus points in every major area.

-Cover
It’s important in multiplayer that your players not be able to shoot too far ahead of themselves most of the time. Large open spaces should usually be broken up with a lot of full cover. This also allows players to advance through areas without being vulnerable for too long.

Through my research, I have determined that my map will be inversely symmetrical. It will be small to medium scale since it will only support a death match game mode.
It will be made of different areas. The focal point will be the middle of the map, where the energy core can be found. Buildings with stairs and interiors, hills and power generators will be implemented to add cover and terrain options/verticality. There will also always be at least 3 paths to choose from from any point in the map (rule of 3).

Every map should strive to have one major focal point that the whole map is based around. The focal points must serve to add visual interest and to drive players towards a goal; this goal is the energy core, a gem that paired with a weapon, will give the gun the ability to shoot energy beams.

Risk assessment

When developing a videogame there are many possible risks that can effect its popularity and overall income. An example could be trademarked/ copyrighted objects or landmarks that if implemented into a game without consent, may result in a hefty fine. Since I will be making my gun and map completely from scratch (including textures), I will not have any problems with copyright. Other risks could include, not enough planning leading to shortage in people working on the game or lack of funds. A really important risk is not doing enough research beforehand. Developing a game “blind”, not knowing the current and future trends of players can result in the game not selling at all. This is why I generated more than one idea, gathered some research through a questionnaire, and chose the best idea that fit my target audience.

Technical Restraints
Technical restraints when developing a video game means: do I have the technical ability to make my game, or is my idea so crazy that even a big developer company would find it difficult.
In my opinion, the only technical restraint I have at the moment is not enough coding and programming knowledge to implement 3D modeled assets into a game, as well as advanced knowledge of Autodesk Maya, to model numerous tiny animated details on my gun.; but I will learn this as I go as part of this course.
Another technical restraint can be polygon count as well as texture size. If a model has an immense amount of polys, it will take much more time to load (it will need more constant processing) than a model that is low poly with high poly UVs attached to it. The same goes for a high quality texture. If an object in a level can only be seen from really far away, there is no point in making a 8k texture for fine details, it would be more effective to make a mid-to-low quality texture for this object, and focus on others that are much closer to the player for high quality textures.

Legal and Ethical Issues
The main legal and ethical issue when developing a video game is Copyright. Copyright is having the legal right by law for the creator to have free use and distribution of their original work without others claiming the creators work as their own. As I said above, I will be making my gun and map completely from scratch (including textures), and I will conduct intensive research to make sure that my idea is original and creative. This because I will not have any problems with copyright claims.